Daniel Steffey; Composer/Percussionist
Daniel Steffey is a composer and percussionist located in the San Francisco Bay Area. His work floats around the realm of extremes, controlled improvisation, and giving the performer(s) decision making capabilities to allow for minimal distraction of the sonic result. In addition to instrumental music, Daniel also writes electronic music, usually using whatever equipment is at his disposal. His newest album of electronic works titled Chloros was released on Edgetone Records in which Foxy Digitalis went on to say, "It is as abrasive as it is meditative, and bold as it is voyeuristic. He has surprisingly found new meanings within noise." Daniel was recently commissioned by the Fifth Wall Gallery in Las Vegas, Nevada to contribute a solo exhibition for their inaugural opening; the resulting sound installation, Sonic Trichromacy, was named one of the top ten local art exhibits of 2011 by the Las Vegas Weekly.
Daniel is also an active member of the William Winant Percussion Group where he has played the US premieres of works by Peter Garland and Christian Wolff respectively, and worked with several other composers and performers such as: The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Petr Kotik, Thomas Buckner, the Eclipse String Quartet, Bob Ostertag, David Abel, and Julia Wolfe. He received his MA in Music Composition from Mills College where he studied composition and music theory with Roscoe Mitchell and David Bernstein, and percussion with William Winant. His BA is in Music Performance from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he studied percussion with Tim Jones and Dean Gronemeier.
Daniel is also an active member of the William Winant Percussion Group where he has played the US premieres of works by Peter Garland and Christian Wolff respectively, and worked with several other composers and performers such as: The San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, Petr Kotik, Thomas Buckner, the Eclipse String Quartet, Bob Ostertag, David Abel, and Julia Wolfe. He received his MA in Music Composition from Mills College where he studied composition and music theory with Roscoe Mitchell and David Bernstein, and percussion with William Winant. His BA is in Music Performance from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas where he studied percussion with Tim Jones and Dean Gronemeier.
